Unrest grows in West Bank as Israel changes Hebron site control

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on June 16 that he had removed Palestinian administrative control over a key religious site in the West Bank, while settlers reportedly set fire to a mosque in a nearby village amid rising unrest in the occupied territory.

Smotrich said in a Telegram post that management of the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron — known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque — would be transferred from the Palestinian-run Hebron municipality to an Israeli committee under his control, News.Az reports, citing Hurriyet Daily News.

“The meaning of this decision is that many authorities previously granted in Hebron and at the holy sites … are no longer under the control of the Hebron Municipality,” Smotrich said.

The move drew immediate condemnation from the Palestinian Authority, which called it a violation of existing agreements and international law.

“Such unilateral measures are rejected and condemned, and constitute a violation of signed agreements with the Israeli side,” the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.

Smotrich made the announcement while attending a ceremony marking the laying of the foundation stone for a new Israeli settlement near Hebron. He described the step as part of “practical sovereignty” over the area, according to footage released by his party.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli